Why the Complexity Approach?

“Children who are taught complex sounds often learn treated and untreated sounds due to the relationships amongst sounds. For example, if a child is missing many sounds and is taught a three-element cluster (e.g., /str‐/), it is predicted that he or she will also learn some missing two-element clusters, affricates, fricatives, and stops. Conversely, if a child is missing many sounds and is taught a stop (e.g., /k/ or /g/), it is predicted that /k/ or /g/ will likely change, but not other sounds. Teaching complex sounds leads to rapid change and gains in intelligibility.”

• I chose this target because three-element clusters imply two-element /s/-clusters and two‐element non-/s/-clusters (Gierut & Champion, 2001). By working on this complex cluster, we may influence broader changes across Sophie’s system. She may independently acquire the other sounds/clusters as a result of working on this cluster.

• It is a possible target because Sophie is able to produce all three sounds in the cluster.

2. “shr-” and “thr-”

• I chose these targets because (1) clusters imply affricates, (2) clusters imply singletons, (3) fricative and liquid clusters imply stop clusters, and (4) clusters with a small sonority difference imply clusters with a large sonority difference (Gierut, 2007). By targeting these targets, we can potentially make significant changes to Sophie’s speech sound system without having to target all of the sounds individually.

* Note: I know this might sound kind of crazy! I have been able to work through these targets with preschoolers, and (yes!!) I did see these implicational laws in action.

Sample Goals for the Complexity Approach

Sophie will independently produce “spl-”, “thr-“, and “shr-” in words with 80% accuracy.

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Hi there! I'm Marisha. I am a school-based SLP who is all about working smarter, not harder. I created the SLP Now Membership and love sharing tips and tricks to help you save time so you can focus on what matters most--your students AND yourself.

That is such a great question! I wish I had a better answer, but it varies so much for each student. The particular student gained about 15% on the Percent Consonants Correct inventory every quarter. We spent 4-6 weeks on each cluster, but we also targeted other language goals. I am definitely keeping my eyes peeled for more research/data to answer this question!!